Description

Anyone can look at a snake and see a creature unique unto itself, a reptile with a set of zoological and biological traits that are entirely its own. Just looking at this distinct animal raises many scientific questions. With regard to evolution, how did such an animal come to be? How does a snake move, and how do its sense organs differ from that of other reptiles? How does it eat, and how does it reproduce? Essentially, how does a snake "work"? In How Snakes
Work: The Structure, Function and Behavior of the World's Snakes, leading zoologist Harvey B. Lillywhite has written the definitive scientific guide to the functional biology of snakes. Written for both herpetologists and a more general audience with an interest in the field, How Snakes Work features
nearly two hundred color images of various species of snakes, used to provide visual examples of biological features explained in the text.
Chapter topics include the evolutionary history of the snake, feeding, locomotion, the structure and function of skin, circulation and respiration, sense organs, sound production, and reproduction. Containing all the latest research and advances in our biological knowledge of the snake, How Snakes Work is an indispensable asset to professional zoologists and enthusiasts alike.show more

Review quote

There is a particular satisfaction in reading a wellcrafted, richly detailed scientific textbook written by an expert with an obvious passion for his or her subject - a person who has clearly spent a lifetime immersed in an arcane field, and has the fortuitous ability to draw others in with skillful prose. Harvey B. Lillywhite has produced an exemplar of such a volume. * Rulon W. Clark, The Quarterly Review of Biology * Original and pleasant, filling a vacuum, this book is to recommend in all the libraries. We learned a great deal and our admiration for the serpents and their perfection increases with the reading of each of its chapters. * Ivan Ineich, Bulletin de la Societe Herpetologique de France *show more

About Harvey B. Lillywhite

Harvey B. Lillywhite is a Professor of Zoology and the Director of the Florida Marine Laboratory, University of Florida, Gainesvilleshow more

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